China copper firm Daye ups output target after loss, delays smelter launch

China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining

31/08/2020 12:33

* Daye lifts 2020 copper cathode output target by 5,000
tonnes
    * Says managed to operate above 80% capacity even in
Feb-March
    * New 400,000 tpy smelter will now start up in 2022, not
2021

    By Tom Daly
    BEIJING, Aug 31 (Reuters) - China Daye Non-ferrous Metals
Mining Ltd  0661.HK , the Hubei-based copper producer hit hard
by the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, on Monday
defiantly raised its annual production target after posting a
first-half net loss.
    Daye, located near the virus epicentre of Wuhan, said it
would ensure production of 510,000 tonnes of copper cathode this
year, up from the 505,000 tonnes annual target set in March.
    "We will increase daily as well as monthly production to
recover the losses resulted from the epidemic," Daye said in a
filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
    Its new 400,000 tonnes per year copper smelting project in
Huangshi will now not start producing until 2022, however, the
filing said. The company had previously guided for a launch in
the first half of 2021.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N25Q2J8
    Daye reported a 50.5 million yuan ($7.38 million) loss for
January-June, versus a 3.9 million yuan profit a year earlier.
It had previously announced a 118 million yuan loss for
January-April 2020，implying it had returned to profitability in
the last two months of the half.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2CY018
    Revenue fell 30.6% to 12.06 billion yuan, which the company
said was "mainly attributable to the epidemic effect causing
poor production and sales of the main products."
    It noted a V-shaped rebound in copper prices  CMCU3  from
the second quarter, however, partly driven by recovering Chinese
demand and noted predictions that investment in new
infrastructure in China could boost copper further. Prices of
byproduct sulphuric acid have also risen, it added. 
    Daye's copper cathode production came in at 240,930 tonnes
in the first half, down 10.5% on the year. 
    However, the company managed to maintain an 83.8% capacity
utilisation rate "during the most critical period of the
epidemic from February to March" it said, providing an insight
into the smelter's operations under the Hubei lockdown.
    Some Daye workers tested positive for COVID-19 and almost
1,000 had to self-isolate at home.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A73E5
 
($1 = 6.8457 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Tom Daly, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((tom.daly@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2119;))